Jason Shields: Living with Cystic Fibrosis and making every day count.

In this episode I talk with a long time friend and fellow CF patient, Jason Shields. Jason and I met while being employed as snowboard instructors at Bear Mountain in CA during the early 2000s. Though our paths are different, they are also very similar. It amazes me that out of all the snowboard resorts in the world and the rarity of Cystic Fibrosis among adults at the time, Jason and I would meet at the same resort the same year and be able to know that we each shared this genetic disease and love for life.

In his own words:
"I was born in the mid 70's and Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at birth. My parents had a son pass away in the late 60's from CF and so I was tested at birth. My mom was lucky enough to meet someone at the hospital when I was born that had CF and had made it to his late 20's, his advice to my parents was to let me do whatever I was capable of. My body would let me know if it was too much.

As a kid I lived a normal life except I coughed a lot, got a bad flu once a year and was the small & skinny kid in class. As I got older I started to get sick more often and more seriously but it didn't stop me from doing the things I wanted. I played H.S. Baseball, I started snowboarding my senior year of High School and ended up becoming a snowboard instructor. My disease started to take over at about 26 years old and I figured instead of laying around and let nature take its course, I would pursue my bachelors degree, I worked full time and went to college at night and received my degree at age 32. During this time I had a dr suggest I consider a dual lung transplant. I took him up and met with a transplant team at UCSD. I was on the transplant list for almost 8 years before I got my new lungs. Since my new lease on life I became an accountant, I earned an MBA in Finance, I've done extensive travel, and continue to live my life to the fullest. I've been post transplant for 11 years and hope this ride keeps on keeping on. "

Enjoy my conversation with my awesome and inspirational friend, Jason Shields. 

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